NPR's home page lit up with an article by digital news desk editor and writer Rachel Treisman, “Why Republicans are calling Walz 'Tampon Tim.'” She summarized the Republican mockery of Minnesota governor and Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz for signing into law a requirement that public schools provide menstrual products to students in grades 4-12.

In the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms. This "free period products" movement is supposed to help keep female students in school at their difficult times. NPR was pushing this in 2021. [Image via L.A. Johnson for NPR]

Treisman evaded the reason for the Republican mockery, swerving past the ridiculous image of tampon machines in elementary school boys’ bathrooms, to instead insist how proudly Democrats were embracing Gov. Walz’s “Tampon Tim” epithet.

She did a bait and switch, painting Republicans as virulently opposed to a liberal policy of machines dispending free tampons in girls' bathrooms, when they are actually opposed to a radical policy of machines dispending tampons in elementary school boy’s bathrooms.

The labeling was typical NPR.

After Vice President Harris announced her pick, Stephen Miller, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, tweeted, “She actually chose Tampon Tim.” Chaya Raichik, who runs the far-right social media account Libs of TikTok, photoshopped Walz’s face onto a Tampax box.

….

The moniker refers to a law that Walz, the governor of Minnesota, signed last year, requiring public schools to provide menstrual products -- including pads and tampons -- to students in 4th through 12th grades.

….

But Republicans appear to be taking issue with the wording of the legislation, which says the products must be available “to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students.”

Some Minnesota Republicans initially tried to limit the initiative to female-assigned and gender-neutral bathrooms, but were unsuccessful….

At least the Republican critiques of Walz are included, so there's some rough balance. The “trust the science” folks at NPR must have taken the day off, judging by the bizarre "female-assigned" lingo.

The bill’s inclusive language reflects that not all people who menstruate are women, and not all women get periods, which was important to those who lobbied for the legislation.

“It will make it more comfortable for everyone … then people can use whatever restroom they want without being worried,” Bramwell Lundquist, then 15, told MPR News last year.

But some in the Republican Party -- which has increasingly promoted anti-transgender policies and rhetoric -- see that aspect of the bill as a reason to attack Walz.

"Female" only appeared as "female-assigned," and the word "girl" was not used in the online story. Wokeness won. Treisman quoted state Rep. Sandra Feist in support because "one out of every 10 menstruating youth" miss school, and then Hillary Clinton.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said it was “nice of the Trump camp to help publicize Gov. Tim Walz’s compassionate and common-sense policy,” adding, “Let’s do this everywhere.”

Yet NPR carefully avoided the heart of the issue, the reason it's being mocked in the first place: That putting tampon machines in elementary school boys' restrooms is not only ridiculous but wasteful. (Just anticipate the life expectancy of a tampon machine installed in the average boys' bathroom.)